Bark with a Bite: Ride with us as we sample some of Coastal Georgia's best barbecue joints

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May 16 may have marked National Barbecue Day, but Memorial Day weekend heralds the return of grilling season and summer vacation. We took our 'cue—so to speak—from the confluence of the two and took a road trip to some of coastal Georgia's best smokehouses, on the hunt for caramelized barks with peppery bites, perfectly pink smoke rings, succulent meats, savory sides, and tangy sauces with the right balance of sweet and heat.
We met some characters and debated techniques as we sampled tender ribs, buttery slices of brisket, spicy sausages and strapping chicken legs. One of our crew hails from Texas and holds definite opinions on rubs and that sauces should come on the side. Another, from Eastern North Carolina, proved a harsh judge of both vinegar and mustard-based sauces. Others were delightfully along for the ride, except when it came to the consistency of mac 'n' cheese—and then the, ahem, knives came out. There were surprises—smoked turkey year-round, lamb, seafood—capturing the complexity of the influences along the coast and the fact that both Savannah and Brunswick are port cities.
Herein is the beginning of our journey. We started with these essential seven joints listed and plan to expand our map and palates over the next several weeks as summer unfolds. Let's go >>
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Griffin Bufkin is a rarity—a third-generation St. Simons islander and a proselytizer of both Southern foodways and slow foods who does not cook. In fact, he calls himself the 'sandwich maker' when it comes to Southern Soul Barbecue, giving flowers to his business partner Harrison Sapp, the genius behind the 24-hour smokers where slabs of spice-rubbed ribs, juicy Boston butts and bark-encrusted brisket perfume the air around the island's roundabout like a scent trail for meatheads. Together, they turned a shuttered gas station at the heart of St. Simons Island into a mecca that Guy Fieri, Garden and Gun and Southern Living helped put on the map.
As Southern Soul comes up on its twentieth anniversary next year—a milestone that almost didn't happen after a 2010 fire—it has expanded its footprint to include a courtyard bar and a gift shop, where you can stock up on their unique sauces and spice mixes. The ribs and pulled pork remain their bestsellers, for good reason, but the team handles the sides with the same heart and soul they do the proteins. They serve arguably the best Brunswick Stew of all the places we tried, and their Hoppin' John, collard greens, brisket chili, pimento cheese and potato salad pay homage to some lost recipes. Bufkin described how they wanted to resurrect bogs and other dishes 'you don't see anymore. Just pulled out the old Junior League cookbooks, go through them and pick out the fun stuff…y'know, tradition with a twist.'
And on Sundays, they serve God's favorite yard bird, Southern fried chicken.
Southern Soul Barbecue, 2020 Demere Road, St. Simon's Island, Ga., 31522; 912-638-7685;
Two huge trees flank both sides of the parking lot to Twin Oaks BBQ on Norwich Drive near downtown Brunswick. They were a lot smaller when this red-brick drive-in opened in 1943, back when Linda Barber's mother worked here. Barber's mother quit after the owner at the time asked her to buy a pair of fishnet stockings and put them on for him while he watched. He was dead by the time Linda turned 16 in 1973 and hired on as a server. She's never worked anywhere else. Most folks call her 'Granny' now, as she's fed generations of Glynn County's bellies.
'I love the people. They mean more to me than just customers,' she said.
Granny and her husband Fred help manage the gathering spot, which was full of diners on a Wednesday afternoon, for Darlene Waters, who has owned Twin Oaks for 28 years. Their patty melts are famous, but nearly every person who sat down or took out a brown bag filled with pulled pork sandwiches asked for the battered fries as a side. They are good―thin cut and seasoned just so. Granny leaned in and said next time to get 'em smothered with barbecue (pulled pork) and cheese.
Her all-time favorite, though, is the Philly Cheese Steak sandwich. 'I add bacon on it.'
Twin Oaks BBQ, 2618 Norwich St., Brunswick, Ga., 31520; 912-265-3131;
It is easy to drive past the Smokin Pig BBQ Joint's Richmond Hill location, even though you can smell the oak-tinged smoke a mile away. The sign is small but once you see Chuy's convenience store and gas station heading south on the Coastal Highway, just before you get to the I-95 interchange, you know you've arrived. Inside, the rustic confines evoke my granddaddy's den with its wood-paneled walls. A mounted largemouth bass remains in perpetual astonishment that he hit that lure, and a stuffed bobcat will be trying to snag that flapping mallard for eternity. Picnic tables give it a real casual backyard feel.
A menu of all the standard fare is written on a blackboard in chalk and the friendly ladies in the window happily answer questions and address regulars by name. Even in the middle of a Friday afternoon, a steady stream of folks came in to pick up to-go orders, most of them just after filling up on a different kind of fuel next door. The smoked chicken sandwich on a hamburger bun was a standout, and it paired well with any of the four sauces, presented in squeeze bottles with handwritten labels: Mild, Hot, Spicy Vinegar, and Sweet. Even the mild had a piquant quality, but the vinegar had some bite. The St. Louis-cut ribs held a lot of tender meat that sported a shiny caramelized coat. They were succulent with or without the sweet sauce. My dining partner loved the generous slather of butter on his Texas toast. Even if you're passing through, the Smokin Pig is worth savoring.
The Smokin Pig BBQ Joint has two locations: 13711 E. Oglethorpe Hwy., Midway, Ga., 31320; 912-884-4495; and 3986 Highway 17, Richmond Hill, Ga., 31324; 912-756-7850; smokinpigbbqjoint.com
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You can't pin down Sandfly Bar-B-Q to any specific region, which is why the restaurant in the strip mall storefront on the corner of Ferguson and Skidaway roads has such universal appeal. (It, too, is near a gas station, so we're sensing a theme emerging here.) Once again, voters in Connect Savannah's Best of poll put Sandfly on top. There's a bit of Memphis, Texas Hill Country, and a quick spin through the Carolinas among the offerings, which is why we gravitate toward the Hog Wild Platter ($32), which has a something to suit everyone's tastes.
The smoked sausage sends my heart aflutter, drawing me back to the German and Czech towns scattered across central Texas, roadside spots I used to frequent on trips between Fort Worth and Austin or San Antonio. Sandfly's brisket is no slouch in comparison, either. The generous chunks of pulled pork are just fine without sauce and even better with the mustard base. But the smoked chicken is a marvel, with a delicate hint of pecan and tender, juicy meat. It holds up well to the North Carolina-style vinegar sauce. The mac 'n' cheese and green beans are still our favorite sides as are the tart hamburger sliced pickles. And just like those pesky critters for which the town and the joint are named, we will keep coming back.
Sandfly Bar-B-Q, 9413 Ferguson Ave., Savannah, Ga., 31406; 912-356-5463;
The number of times we've tried to get an order of Randy's ribs and been thwarted by long lines or empty inventories are too numerous to count. But on one morning just before 10:30 a.m., we found a safe enough parking spot along Wheaton Street, just east of downtown Savannah, and sidled up to the little blue building—a former car wash—and stood in the line that had already formed.
We were jonesing for the combo plate of ribs and chicken ($10) with a side of deviled crabs, but the man at the window said they were out of crabs that day. You could hear Antwan Middleton, who has worked with owner Randy Frazier since the place opened nearly 17 years ago, chopping ribs every time the door opened as loaves of white bread and boxes of canned sodas were loaded in. Frazier was moving between the cinderblock building, his car and the smokers on the side, making sure everything was ready for the 11 a.m. opening. Already the sun was beating down.
Customers with cash in hand called out their orders to the server in the window, who started filling Styrofoam containers with chicken legs and smoking bones slathered in a tart mustard sauce that Frazier makes daily. (Note: You have to request your sauce on the side if you want to control the meat-to-sauce ratio.) We carried our combo to the car and ate off the hood, realizing we needed a whole lot more napkins.
Randy's BBQ, 750 Wheaton St., Savannah, Ga., 31401; 912-412-2671
Full disclosure: I have a soft spot for Wiley McCrary. He was one of the first people I met when I moved to Savannah in 2009. I sat at the bar of his then-pocket of a barbecue restaurant on Whitemarsh Island (again in a strip mall just down from a convenience store/gas station) while my computer was being worked on at another store. He was sitting in a director's chair with 'The General' embroidered on its back at the end of the bar, smoking a cigar. He asked if I liked barbecue and thus began a long conversation that lasted for years as he and his recipes became the subject of my master's thesis and, ultimately, an award-winning cookbook. When McCrary passed away in 2018, he was buried with his family Bible and the first cookbook we unboxed.
Wiley's widow and partner in all the championships he won, Janet, sold the restaurant to Nate Shaffer and his wife, Melinda, who have kept the spirit of Wiley alive. Pitmaster Marion Woodberry is the common denominator, still stoking the fires that deliver some of the best brisket east of the Mississippi and clever specials such as Smoked Meatloaf, Smoked Fried Chicken and Smoked Prime Rib. The Redneck Nachos with jalapeños (don't skimp) are always a favorite.
No other barbecue restaurant we tried takes as much care with their sides as Wiley's. The potato salad, based on one of Janet's family recipes, is unique in its taste and creamy texture: No mustard and relish here. Same goes for the vinegar base for the coleslaw. The Best Beans on the Planet live up to their name, and the Dutch-crust Sweet Potato Casserole could double as dessert. The mac-and-cheese is elevated with a white cheese bechamel-style sauce over spiraled rigatoni.
Wiley may be gone, but thankfully, he did not take his secrets to the grave.
Wiley's Championship Barbecue,
About a year ago, Tricks BBQ moved from its long-time location on Bull Street in the gentrifying Starland District to West Bay Street on the edge of Garden City. Folks lamented the loss, but with more space and a new food trailer, Tricks hasn't lost a single customer and has gained several more who clamor for the usual suspects—ribs and chicken—as well as beef and lamb.
I first tried Tricks when it was a smoker in the parking lot of a car detailing business, just down from Back in the Day Bakery, where I worked as a 'Sugarnaut.' We would often trade goodies. And their ribs and chicken legs are just as flavorful as I remember from that first taste. So much so, that I often don't even use the sauce because the meat is so unctuous and well-seasoned. The baked beans are satisfying without being cloyingly sweet and the potato salad recalls some church picnic in distant memory. But the made-fresh-daily seafood salad is singular among the area's barbecue joints. Three Savannah-Chatham Public School bus drivers ahead of us in line were talking about it. They only had one more day of school to go and were getting a head start on celebrating. Two of them newbies to Tricks but now that they knew where it was and had tasted its bounty, they assured us they were coming back even during summer vacation.
Tricks BBQ, 1901 W. Bay St., Savannah, Ga., 31415; 912-643-2182;
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Full confession: We started with these essential seven barbecue joints because eating that much barbecue over the last several weeks has given us the 'meat sweats.' There are so many more we are going to hit over the summer: Bowtie Barbecue, No Sauce Barbecue, Slow Fire Barbecue, Babe's Smokehouse, The Rusty Pig ... until we have the quintessential coastal Georgia BBQ Road Trip Guide.
If you would like to nominate a barbecue joint for us to visit between Glynn County, Georgia and Jasper and Beaufort counties in South Carolina, please submit your recommendations to Amy Paige Condon at [e-mail].
Amy Paige Condon is a content coach, editor and culture writer for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach her at [e-mail]. Richard Burkhart is the visual journalist for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: savannah morning news takes a barbecue road trip through coastal Georgia